Baby Is Head Down but His Spine Is on My the Right Side

Recollect back to last Halloween for a minute. Wherever you looked, there were vampires, ghosts, or bony skeletons grinning back at you. Vampires and ghosts don't really exist, but skeletons certain do!

Every single person has a skeleton made up of many bones. These basic give your body structure, let you move in many ways, protect your internal organs, and more.

It's fourth dimension to look at all your bones — the adult human body has 206 of them!

What Are Bones Made Of?

If you've ever seen a existent skeleton or fossil in a museum, you might think that all bones are dead. Although bones in museums are dry, hard, or crumbly, the bones in your body are different. The bones that make upward your skeleton are all very much alive, growing and irresolute all the fourth dimension like other parts of your body.

Almost every bone in your body is made of the same materials:

• The outer surface of os is called the periosteum (say: skin-ee-OSS-tee-um). It's a thin, dumbo membrane that contains nerves and blood vessels that nourish the bone.
• The side by side layer is made upwards of compact bone. This part is smooth and very hard. Information technology's the part you encounter when you look at a skeleton.
• Within the compact bone are many layers of cancellous (say: KAN-sell-us) bone, which looks a scrap like a sponge. Cancellous os is non quite equally difficult as compact os, but it is notwithstanding very strong.
• In many bones, the cancellous bone protects the innermost part of the os, the bone marrow (say: MAIR-oh). Bone marrow is sort of like a thick jelly, and its job is to brand blood cells.

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How Bones Grow

When you were a baby, you lot had tiny hands, tiny feet, and tiny everything! Slowly, as you grew older, everything became a flake bigger, including your bones.

A infant'southward trunk has about 300 bones at birth. These eventually fuse (grow together) to grade the 206 bones that adults have. Some of a baby'south bones are made entirely of a special material called cartilage (say: KAR-tel-ij). Other basic in a baby are partly fabricated of cartilage. This cartilage is soft and flexible. During childhood, as you are growing, the cartilage grows and is slowly replaced by bone, with help from calcium.

By the fourth dimension you are about 25, this process volition be complete. After this happens, in that location can be no more growth — the bones are as big as they will e'er be. All of these basic brand up a skeleton that is both very strong and very light.

Your Spine

Your spine is one part of the skeleton that's like shooting fish in a barrel to check out: Reach effectually to the center of your dorsum and you'll feel its bumps under your fingers.

The spine lets you twist and bend, and it holds your torso upright. It also protects the spinal cord, a large bundle of fretfulness that sends information from your brain to the residuum of your torso. The spine is special because information technology isn't made of one or even 2 bones: It's made of 33 bones in all! These bones are called vertebrae (say: VER-tuh-bray) and each one is shaped like a ring.

There are dissimilar types of vertebrae in the spine and each does a dissimilar kind of job:

• The first 7 vertebrae at the summit are called the cervical (say: SIR-vih-kul) vertebrae. These bones are in the back of your cervix, just below your brain, and they back up your head and cervix. Your head is pretty heavy, and then it'south lucky to have assist from the cervical vertebrae!
• Below the cervical vertebrae are the thoracic (say: thuh-RAS-ik) vertebrae, and at that place are 12 in all. These guys anchor your ribs in place. Beneath the thoracic vertebrae are five lumbar (say: LUM-bar) vertebrae. Beneath the lumbar vertebrae is the sacrum (say: SAY-krum), which is made up of v vertebrae that are fused together to course one unmarried bone.
• Finally, all the style at the bottom of the spine is the coccyx (say: COK-siks), which is ane bone made of 4 fused vertebrae. The bottom sections of the spine are important when information technology comes to bearing weight and giving yous a skilful center of gravity. So when you pick upward a heavy haversack, the lumbar vertebrae, sacrum, and coccyx requite y'all the power. When you trip the light fantastic toe, skip, and even walk, these parts help proceed you balanced.

In betwixt each vertebra (the name for simply one of the vertebrae) are minor disks made of cartilage. These disks keep the vertebrae from rubbing confronting one another, and they also human action equally your spine's natural shock absorbers. When you jump in the air, or twist while slamming a dunk, the disks requite your vertebrae the cushioning they need.

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Your Ribs

Your heart, lungs, and liver are all very important, and luckily you've got ribs to keep them safe. Ribs deed similar a muzzle of bones around your breast. It's easy to feel the bottom of this cage by running your fingers along the sides and forepart of your body, a few inches below your heart. If you breathe in deeply, yous can easily feel your ribs correct in the front of your body, also. Some thin kids can even see a few of their ribs right through their peel.

Your ribs come in pairs, and the left and right sides of each pair are exactly the same. Most people have 12 pairs of ribs, but some people are born with one or more extra ribs, and some people might have one pair less.

All 12 pairs of ribs attach in the back to the spine, where they are held in place by the thoracic vertebrae. The first seven pairs of ribs attach in the front to the sternum (say: STUR-num), a strong bone in the center of your chest that holds those ribs in place. The remaining sets of ribs don't attach to the sternum directly. The next iii pairs are held on with cartilage to the ribs above them.

The very last two sets of ribs are called floating ribs because they aren't connected to the sternum or the ribs above them. But don't worry, these ribs can't ever float away. Like the balance of the ribs, they are deeply attached to the spine in the back.

Your Skull

Your skull protects the most important role of all, the encephalon. Y'all tin can feel your skull by pushing on your head, especially in the dorsum a few inches above your neck. The skull is really made up of different bones. Some of these bones protect your brain, whereas others make upwards the structure of your confront. If y'all impact below your eyes, yous can feel the ridge of the bone that forms the hole where your eye sits.

And although yous can't see it, the smallest os in your whole body is in your head, too. The stirrup bone behind your eardrum is only .1 to .xiii inches (ii.five to 3.three millimeters) long! Desire to know something else? Your lower jawbone is the simply os in your head you can move. Information technology opens and closes to allow you talk and chew food.

Your skull is pretty cool, but it'due south changed since you were a babe. All babies are born with spaces betwixt the bones in their skulls. This allows the basic to motion, close up, and even overlap as the baby goes through the birth canal. As the babe grows, the space between the basic slowly closes up and disappears, and special joints chosen sutures (say: SOO-churs) connect the bones.

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Your Hands

 As you sit and type at the keyboard, while you swing on a swing, even when you pick up your lunch, you're using the basic in your fingers, hand, wrist, and arm.

Each arm is attached to a shoulder blade or scapula (say: SKA-pyuh-luh), a large triangular bone on the upper back corner of each side of the ribcage. The arm is made up of three bones: the humerus (say: HYOO-muh-rus), which is above your elbow, and the radius (say: RAY-dee-the states) and ulna (say: UL-nuh), which are beneath the elbow.

Each of these basic is wider at the ends and skinnier in the center, to help give it force where information technology meets another bone. At the cease of the radius and ulna are eight smaller basic that make up your wrist. Although these bones are modest, they can really move! Twist your wrist effectually or wave and you'll meet how the wrist can move.

The heart part of your manus is made upward of five dissever bones. Each finger on your hand has iii basic, except for your pollex, which has 2. So between your wrists, hands, and all your fingers, you've got a grand total of 54 bones — all ready to assist you grasp things, write your name, pick up the phone, or throw a softball!

Your Legs

Sure, your arm, wrist, manus, and finger bones are great for picking upwardly the phone, just how are you supposed to run to answer it? Well, with the bones of the legs and feet!

Your legs are attached to a circular group of bones called your pelvis. The pelvis is a bowl-shaped construction that supports the spine. It is fabricated up of the 2 large hip basic in front end, and behind are the sacrum and the coccyx. The pelvis acts equally a tough ring of protection around parts of the digestive system, parts of the urinary system, and parts of the reproductive organisation.

Your leg bones are very large and potent to assist support the weight of your body. The bone that goes from your pelvis to your knee is called the femur (say: FEE-mur), and it'due south the longest bone in your torso. At the human knee, there's a triangular-shaped bone called the patella (say: puh-TEL-luh), or kneecap, that protects the knee articulation. Below the knee joint are 2 other leg bones: the tibia (say: TIH-bee-uh) and the fibula (say: FIH-byuh-luh). Merely like the three basic in the arm, the three bones in the leg are wider at the ends than in the heart to give them forcefulness.

The ankle is a bit different from the wrist; it is where the lower leg bones connect to a large os in the foot chosen the talus (say: TAL-iss). Adjacent to the talus are six other basic. Simply the principal part of the human foot is similar to the hand, with five basic. Each toe has three tiny bones, except for your big toe, which has only ii. This brings the bone total in both feet and ankles to 52!

Most people don't utilize their toes and feet for grabbing stuff or writing, but they practise use them for two very of import things: standing and walking. Without all the bones of the foot working together, it would be impossible to balance properly. The basic in the anxiety are bundled so the human foot is almost flat and a bit broad, to assistance you lot stay upright. Then the side by side time you're walking, be certain to look downwardly and give thanks those toes!

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Your Joints

The place where two bones meet is called a joint. Some joints move and others don't.

Fixed joints are fixed in identify and don't move at all. Your skull has some of these joints (called sutures, remember?), which close upwardly the basic of the skull in a young person'south head. 1 of these joints is called the parieto-temporal (say: par-Centre-ih-toh TEM-puh-rul) suture — it'south the 1 that runs forth the side of the skull.

Moving joints are the ones that allow you ride your cycle, eat cereal, and play a video game — the ones that allow you to twist, curve, and move different parts of your body. Some moving joints, like the ones in your spine, move but a little. Other joints move a lot. One of the primary types of moving joints is called a hinge joint. Your elbows and knees each accept hinge joints, which let y'all curve and and then straighten your arms and legs. These joints are like the hinges on a door. Just equally most doors can only open one way, you can but bend your arms and legs in one direction. You also have many smaller hinge joints in your fingers and toes.

Another important type of moving joint is the brawl and socket joint. You tin detect these joints at your shoulders and hips. They are fabricated upwards of the circular end of one bone plumbing fixtures into a small cup-similar area of another os. Ball and socket joints permit for lots of motility in every direction. Make sure yous've got lots of room, and attempt swinging your arms all over the place.

Have yous ever seen someone put oil on a hinge to make it piece of work easier or stop squeaking? Well, your joints come up with their own special fluid chosen synovial fluid (say: SIH-no-vee-ul) that helps them move freely. Bones are held together at the joints by ligaments (say: LIH-guh-mints), which are like very stiff rubber bands.

Taking Care of Bones

Your bones aid you lot out every day so make certain y'all take intendance of them. Hither are some tips:

Protect those skull bones (and your brain inside!) by wearing a helmet for bicycle riding and other sports. When you use a skateboard, in-line skates, or a scooter, be sure to add wrist supports and elbow and knee pads. Your bones in these places will thank you if you take a fall!

If you play sports like football, soccer, lacrosse, or ice hockey, always wearable all the right equipment. And never play on a trampoline. Many kids cease up with broken basic from jumping on them. Cleaved bones can eventually heal, just it takes a long time and isn't much fun while you wait.

Strengthen your skeleton by drinking milk and eating other dairy products (like low-fat cheese or frozen yogurt). They all contain calcium, which helps bones harden and become strong.

Be active! Another way to strengthen your basic is through exercise similar running, jumping, dancing, and playing sports.

Take these steps to exist expert to your bones, and they volition care for you correct!

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Source: https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/bones.html